Sandy Brondello, Australian professional basketball player. Named Australian Intenrat. Basketball Player of the Year, 1992, WNBL's Most Valuable Player, 1995; recipient European Cup Most Valuable Player, 1996.
Background
Brondello grew up in Mackay, Queensland, where her parents had a sugar cane farm. At the age of 9, she started to play basketball in a grass court her father built in the backyard Brondello"s career began in Australia"s Women"s National Basketball League, where she was named the Australian Basketball Player of the Year in 1992.
Education
She attended the Australian Institute of Sport in 1986-1987, and was inducted to the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
Career
Brondello played in Australia and the Women's National Basketball Association before retiring to become a coach. The 1.70 m (5"7") Brondello is one of Australia"s all-time best shooting guards. She also played between 1992 and 2002 in Germany for BTV Wuppertal, winning ten national championships and the 1995-1996 International Basketball Federation Women"s European Champions Cup.
Brondello started her Women's National Basketball Association career in 1998 by being selected in the fourth round (34th overall) by the newly formed Detroit Shock, becoming an All-Star in the first Women's National Basketball Association All-Star Game in 1999.
She was selected by the Indiana Fever in late 1999"s expansion draft, but never played a game for them, being traded to the Miami Sol along with a first-round pick for Stephanie McCarty. After sitting out of the 2002 season due to a foot injury playing for Wuppertal during the Women's National Basketball Association offseason, Brondello signed as a free agent with the Seattle Storm in 2003, joining fellow Australians Lauren Jackson and Tully Bevilaqua.
Brondello was one of the top three-point shooters in league history, her.410 percentage ranking fourth all-time. On the Australian National Team, Brondello joined the team before the age of 18 and remained on the Opals for 17 years, and her 302 games made Brondello the third most capped Australian player, behind Robyn Maher and Karen Dalton.
Brondello"s tournaments with Australia include four World Championships, with two bronze medals, and four Olympic tournaments, with two silver medals and a bronze.
Twice she sat out of the Women's National Basketball Association due to Olympic commitments, in 2000 and 2004. The 2004 tournament in Athens turned out to be Brondello"s last major event, with her afterwards investing in a coaching career. In 2005, Brondello was named an assistant coach of the San Antonio Silver Stars.
She was promoted to head coach in February 2010.
In 2009 Brondello was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. Brondello finished her only season as head coach with a 14–20 record, third best in the Western Conference.
They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Phoenix two games to none. General manager Dan Hughes regained the title of head coach in January 2011, returning to the dual role he held before promoting Brondello.
Brondello would become an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks for the 2011 season.
In November 2013, Brondello was hired by the Phoenix Mercury to replace interim coach Russian Pennell.
Membership
Brondello played for 10 seasons in the WNBL, reaching the playoffs on three occasions and being named Most Valuable Player in 1995 as a member of the Brisbane Blazers.